With respect to lotteries, scratch-off or instant win lottery tickets have been a staple of the lottery industry for decades. They have been enjoyed by billions of players over the world for years. Innovations in instant win ticket game design have sustained the product and allowed for growth. Though, recently the instant win lottery ticket market sales increases have become relatively flat.
One method of combating this undesirable trend is to produce higher payout instant win tickets. However, most lottery jurisdictions regulate payout percentages by charter and therefore cannot utilize higher payout tickets as a means of increasing sales. It is therefore desirable to develop a new methodology of marketing instant win lottery tickets where the player perceives added value independent of increases in payout percentages.
Another method is to expand the distribution of instant tickets to new locations like super market checkout lanes. However, the logistics and security problems associated with placing instant lottery tickets in super market check out lanes has hitherto made this expanded distribution impractical.
A third method is to enlarge the instant ticket to expand the limited amount of play (a.k.a. scratch-off) area to create an extended play experience. These larger tickets permit larger or multiple play areas (e.g., Bingo games). But, the physical size of a ticket can be increased only by a limited amount. Typically the largest tickets measure 4×10 inches and, at that size, are cumbersome. The players often perceive that the playing time does not reflect the higher cost of larger tickets.
Yet another method is to create a small electronic game device on which an instant lottery type game can be played. In one case a game along with a predetermined win outcome for the game is programmed into a microprocessor prior to assembly of the device by connecting ports of the microprocessor to selected tracks on a printed circuit board as described in U.S. Patent Application, Publication No. US 2004/0235550.